With the time change coming up this weekend, I thought I'd write a piece about Indiana's split personality regarding Daylight Savings Time. So I read up on the topic. Oh my gosh! Don't try this at home! Indiana's time zone history is so incredibly convoluted and complex it makes quantum physics look easy in comparison. They should give a Nobel Prize to "those who make significant contributions to mankind's understanding of Indiana's time zones." If you dare, you can read about Indiana's time zones on Wikipedia, but I'd advise against it unless you have a triple Phd in accounting, geographic information systems, and dairy farming.

1 comment:

Well, I don't have a PhD, but I am a lifelong Hoosier. People around here are still confused about it all and some are even angry. It's really not that confusing anymore, but the history is fascinating. You just have to remember that "The Region" near Chicago is on Central and the area around Evansville is on Central time. People used to say that Indiana "Switched time zones" at the SDST switch. Which was technically incorrect but was functionally correct. Friends in Chicago were always confused about what time we were on. My wife had to explain to her 70 year old aunt from Illinois yesterday about the DST switch and her visit to Indiana this weekend. I'm sure she'll be hours late to the event! There was an episode of The West Wing that made fun of Indiana's time zones. I thought the idea of a presidential candidate actually campaigning in the state was the funny part! I'd never heard of it happening until 2008 when both Clinton and Obama campaigned heavily in the state.

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